By Sarah Gray/Managing Editor
Fresh flowers have a way of talking. They lift up dampened hearts. They give a sense of joy from the corner of a hospital room. They make you smile when they’re an unexpected gift. Flowers have a way of saying “You’re on someone’s mind.”
Whether roses, tulips, carnations, or greenery with intricate textures, a bouquet sometimes even signifies change.
For Susan Pointer and Holly Rayl, flowers mean a change in pace. And it’s a change that is already producing some impressive arrangements in Marshall.
Farm Girl Flowers & More opened mid-April. It was a venture neither of the two would have anticipated a few years ago. The sign “For Sale” hung in the windows of Country Floral and Keepsakes for more than a year. And with that came an opportunity.
“I did not want to see another building on the (downtown) square empty,” Susan said. “It just kind of kept coming back that it was a good way to help our community grow. Holly, she loves to design flowers, and she wanted to buy this place.”
After first looking at the shop three years ago, Holly waited. Life continued.
“I called her up and said, ‘I think I’m ready for something different,” Susan recalled. “We jumped in with both feet.”
The two bustled from the back to the front of the shop, looking at orders and taking a break from painting. Holly told Susan a customer just contacted them – she just now disposed of her Mother’s Day bouquet – roses that lasted nearly four weeks.
“She was thrilled. You’re so used to throwing cuttings out after a week or two,” Holly said.
Floor-to-ceiling windows face the Marshall square. Behind them – an inviting, open space where flowers and merchandise co-exist. From pre-arrangements and plants to merchandise such as oils, goat milk lotions and facial scrubs, the products blend together in a well-planned showroom. Farm Girl Flowers & More is nurturing its product line as Susan and Holly hope to add more items customers are looking for.
“We have Myra bags, jewelry, country dips, honey from Christina Morrow. That’s been a big hit,” Susan said.
A customer hoping to find unique pocketbooks walked in, and Susan showed her their collection. Meanwhile, Holly and her daughter, Pyper, continued working in other areas of the shop. Much like “farm girl” life, family support has driven the early success.
What drives Holly’s passion for the shop is simply its cheerful nature.
“It’s just happy,” she stated, smiling. “It’s not a corporate desk job. People are mad when they call corporate. They’re not mad when they call the flower shop. They’re happy to be here. … Even with funeral pieces. They’re so excited that there’s something pretty, even when you’re in that sad time.”
Plans are in development for subscription boxes – a surprise box from the shop that arrives at a customer’s home once a month. They are even considering a pre-order arrangement for the year, where a customer can register to have all holidays covered for a loved one: think birthday, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, anniversary and Christmas are handled without the customer having to remember.
Opening the business is much to plan. For the former bank vice president and former lead sales representative, anticipating customer needs beforehand has made a difference. The focus, though, still remains – fresh, quality flower arrangements. A bouquet of roses, sprigs of eucalyptus. An aroma both subtle and strong, to evoke an emotion, a thought, a memory, a smile.
For these two women with the studious hearts of farm girls, entrepreneurship is a budding adventure.
Farm Girl Flowers & More is located at 22 E. Arrow St., on the south side of the Marshall square. Hours are typically Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment. The shop can be reached by calling 660-886-6900. A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25.
